The spiritual bonding ceremonial rite is an ancient ritual practiced by the people of a bygone era. No one felt it safe to speak to one another verbally, so instead they took to spiritual bonding. This made it possible to communicate by opening the hearts of those performing it open to one another, creating an effect similar to mind reading. However, just to be safe, in addition to the ritual, there would also be a passcode that needed to be said before being able to connect with another's mind.
Many knew of the existence of such a practice, but all the required materials needed to use it had been wiped off the face of the earth. Well, almost all of it.
The Aoiro Hikari clan had somehow managed to store a good amount of it and still keeps a portion of them in each household under the Aoiro's.
Jae-sung readied all they would need to successfully conduct the spiritual bonding ceremony; the tear of an alicorn, a feather from the Elder crane, fur from a Fox Spirit and finally, the most important item of them all, strands of hair from those wanting to be spiritually bonded.
All the materials were placed in a little cauldron, lilac colored smoke emanating from it. Five minutes later, it was filled with a clear liquid as the smoke ceased to fume out.
"It's so clear...", thought Tsukiko. It was the clearest water she'd ever seen in her entire life.
"The brew is done. Now we splash it on our foreheads. On the count of three, mentally recite what you wish to be your spiritual keys at least five times. The group spiritual bonding can be entered using the passcode 'Unlucky Trinity' and is left by saying 'Bye' ", explained Jae-sung.
Tsukiko couldn't help but feel like the passcodes were a little funny, but didn't laugh due to the situation.
She and Miyuki nodded. The three then proceeded to splash the water on their foreheads.
Jae-sung, "One"
Miyuki, "Two"
Tsukiko, "Three!"
There was a flash of white light that filled the room, blind to the extreme. Thankfully, they had already closed their eyes before it completely blinded them. So, without wasting much time, they all internally recited their spiritual keys five times.
Slowly, the white light died out and it was as though nothing had happened.
Tsukiko couldn't see too well. She closed her eyes the latest and was still being affected by the white light
"Is that all?", wondered Tsukiko. She didn't feel any different, so was there more to it?
"Yes, the spell worked"
Tsukiko nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a voice in her head that was most definitely not hers. Soon she heard another voice.
"Alright!"
Tsukiko nearly jumped out of her skin once more. Why was she hearing voices in her head that were answering her questions?? That was a bit weird, no??
"But that's exactly how it works Tsukiko"
The voice knew her name???
"Pfftt", the voice laughed.
"???"
Before Tsukiko could become anymore confused, she felt a hand on her shoulder. By now she could see better and found the owner of the hand to be Jae-sung. Miyuki was next to her, and the cousins both looked at her dead in the eyes.
"This is Jae-sung", said Jae-sung
"And this is Miyuki", said Miyuki
Then they both said, "The spell worked"
Finally, Tsukiko understood the situation.
"Ohh, I get it now, sorry", she bashfully said.
"Don't be, you looked so funny when you thought you were going crazy", Miyuki teased.
"Miyuki...", pouted Tsukiko.
"She just joking Tsukiko", Jae-sung intervened.
It really was the most curious sight. Three people standing in a room, staring at each other and not saying a word. Though they seemed to be communicating.
"We must all look very silly right now"
"True..."
"We all probably look crazy!"
"Or like people who are under a spiritual bond. Which means the Yuganda Yume may sense something's going on"
"That can't be good..."
"Then we should probably not look at each other when we do this...I can't help it though!"
"Right?? I guess some practice wouldn't hurt"
"Good idea Tsuki"
"..."
"?"
"Tsuki..."
"Oh, are you uncomfortable with me calling you Tsuki?"
"No! But..."
"Alright then. I'll call you Tsuki from now on"
"But..!"
Somehow, Tsukiko felt it very difficult to accept the sudden change and felt she should say something. Unfortunately, she was cut off by the ever enthusiastic and dense Miyuki who didn't understand the delicacy of the situation.
"Oh right! What are your passcodes? Mine's 'Miyuki the Inventor'"
"I chose mine to be 'Blue flame'"
"Everyone's passcodes are really meaningful..."
"Well, what's yours Tsuki?"
"...Moon Bunny..."
"..."
"Aww, that's so cute!"
Tsukiko was quite embarrassed, especially since she could feel Jae-sung judging her.
In order to reduce the shame she felt, Tsukiko left the spiritual bonding.
She thought to herself, "But I like bunnies and my name means the moon, so it does make sense..."
Suddenly, she heard a voice.
"It is cute though", the voice said.
It was Jae-sung!
"Jae-sung?? Why are you--"
"Sorry, I must have overstepped. It's just..."
Tsukiko noticed Jae-sung glance nervously towards Miyuki. She was preoccupied with a journal she usually used for any new ideas she may have for inventions. Seeing this, Jae-sung sighed a breath of relief.
Now, there's a couple things wrong with this. Usually Jae-sung is literally oozing of self-confidence and badassery [not that it's a real word but you get it] and always struck Tsukiko as that one dude that's too cool for words. But right now, he seemed a bit...shy?
However, shy=Jae-sung doesn't really add up. Tsukiko's usually the shy one, so seeing someone apart from herself being like that, she felt a bit happy.
Was happy the word to use? She didn't know. Though she did know it was a good feeling
"Yes?"
He suddenly looked directly into her eyes, summoning up all his courage.
"I wasn't trying...to judge you. It's a passcode that suits you...", his voice trailed off as he could feel Tsukiko's increasingly heated gaze boring into his eyes. Suddenly, he found it very hard to look up.
The tips of his ears had gone red in embarrassment, but his face was more or less held together.
"Also", he continued. "I'm not shy..."
At first, Tsukiko was confused. She'd said he was acting shy--yes. But how did he know?
"I could hear your thoughts"
"..."
Goodbye world!
Now this was certainly embarrassing.
Tsukiko Kurosawa been embarrassed not once, not twice, but three times in the span of thirty minutes! That had to be some kind of world record, right?
"You don't have to be embarrassed though Tsuki?"
Tsukiko disconnected herself from the spiritual bonding. This guy could hear her internal monologue, her ramblings, everything!
Jae-sung thought her to be angry and looked at her apologetically.
"I apologize if I've intruded your personal space", he said.
She couldn't even be mad at this point. All she could think about is whether or not the person in front of was bipolar or something.
Where is the 'too cool for words' Jae-sung??
Bring him back please, this Jae-sung is about to kill our female lead!!
Tsukiko looked at him with an unreadable expression, feeling as though she'd had ten years taken off her lifespan. This was all too much!
Having received no reply, Jae-sung thought Tsukiko was really angry at him.
"I'm sorry, I'll never establish a spiritual bond without telling you first", he said seriously.
Now Tsukiko had to say something!
Wouldn't it cause too many problems if Jae-sung constantly went "Hey can we establish a spiritual bond?"
They'd be found out and thrown out of the Yuganda Yume house for life! Or worse, they never leave and succumb to their mind games!
No, she had to put a stop to this.
Tsukiko sighed long and deep before looking up to meet Jae-sung's eyes.
"I don't mind the fact that you didn't ask me, I was just a little flustered that's all..."
Jae-sung widened his eyes like he was genuinely surprised at the words coming out of her mouth.
"Also, I'm not mad at you at all. So, you can relax", she said.
Jae-sung looked at her with widened eyes before breaking into a smile.
"Okay, thank you"
Tsukiko couldn't help but do the same as she replied with an even wider smile, "You're welcome"
Suddenly, they heard the sound of a book closing.
"Done!", exclaimed Miyuki as she stretched her arms.
She knew nothing of what had just happened and was completely focused on jotting down her ideas.
This made Tsukiko and surprisingly, Jae-sung, burst into laughter.
"Huh, what's so funny? Even you cousin??", asked a confused Miyuki.
Tsukiko placated her with a few 'its nothing's' and changed the topic.
"So, what've you been writing down all this time Miyuki?", she asked.
Miyuki's eyes lit up as immediately.
"Well, I've been thinking of making something special for our venture into the belly of the beast"
"And I call them, Protection Bracelets"